Storms and Flooding: February 17-24, 2005

Last updated August 9, 2005

A storm series much like the series in
early January left southwest
Riverside County and north San Diego County with a myriad of
weather-related problems this week, including flooding, mudslides, road
closures, tornados
and the closure of Lake Elsinore (again) as water from the San Jacinto
River surged into it. By the time the rain ended with a spectacular
thunderstorm Thursday night, many
local communities were approaching seasonal rainfall records.

Photos to the right document some of the problems faced in the
latest storm series.

Pala Road Flooding Strands Residents

For the second time this year, residents along Pala Road,
south of Temecula were stranded in their community when floodwaters
at the Pechanga creek, severely damaging the Pala Road crossing
that had just been repaired after washing out in January. The road
was also closed north of Pala Monday through Wednesday when a creek
overflowed across it, putting a section under three to four feet
of water. The creek had receded enough on Thursday for traffic in
and out of the affected area to resume.

The affected area was just south of Great Oak High School,
where Pechanga Parkway becomes Pala Road.

"There were eroded fissures on either side of the road,"
said Sue Bram, a resident of the area, "and by Sunday afternoon
they had widened and there was at least one more." Water had risen
high enough to erode some of the dirt fill beneath the roadway.

Residents of this area were also stranded in early January
for a day or so when much the same thing happened. The second washout
of the Pechanga Creek crossing has strenghened arguments for
building a bridge there.

County of Riverside repair crews were hard at work on Pala
Road beginning Monday. Boulder and fill dirt have been moved
into position to shore up the sides of the Pechanga
Creek channel.

"They are shoring up and channeling future water
flow more directly to the culvert pipes", said Bram. "Or so it appears."

The crossing reportedly reopened Friday at 6pm with
new asphalt blacktop in place.

Tornados Hits Fallbrook, Rainbow and Temecula

Before the second storm hit, tornados tore through Fallbrook,
Rainbow and Temecula on Saturday morning at 9:45am, downing fences,
felling hundred of trees, knocking out power, and damaging about 50
homes. The tornado that hit Temecula was rated F1 on the
Fujita-Pearson scale, with winds
estimated at 80-90 miles per hour.
Read more about the tornados.

Lake Elsinore Closed and Close to Overflow

Due to sanitary concerns, Lake Elsinore was closed as water
levels rose during the recent storms. The lake was also closed
after the early January rains, and had recently reopened.

Originally we had reported that Lake Elsinore had begun
spilling into its outfall on Thursday, February 24th. This was an
unconfirmed report, however. Official reports and an onsite
observation indicate that the lake hasn't yet spilled, although it was
only a few inches from spilling on Monday, February 28th and still rising.

The official lake height was 1254.26 feet and the outfall level is 1255
feet. The outfall from Lake Elsinore leads into Temescal Creek.

Lake Elsinore is the endpoint of the San Jacinto River,
which also includes the Railroad Canyon Reservoir in
Canyon Lake, which has been spilling off and on since the October rains.
At one point this week, Canyon Lake was more than three feet above the
spillway. The San Jacinto River was flooded between Canyon Lake
and Lake Elsinore with very brown water.

Flooding Closes Local Roads

Many local roads were closed as a result of six to eight inches
of rain over the week. Some of the major roads closed included
Railroad Canyon Road in Canyon Lake at Salt Creek, and Collier Avenue
just north of Riverside Drive in Lake Elsinore. Parts of the City
of Lake Elsinore near Riverside Drive and Collier were swampy from
rainfall runoff.

Rainfall caused more damage to Los Caballos Road in the Temecula
Valley wine country, east of Temecula. The road is apparently not
maintained by the county, and already had sustained major damage in
January. One lane of the road remained passable.

There were many other road closures in nearly every community
in the area. Despite the plethora of flooding problems, there
were fewer of them than after the
early January storms.

Thunderstorm Provides Spectacle

In a spectacular final show, an unstable air mass left behind by
the storms generated a thunderstorm over Agua Tibia mountain Thursday night.

The storm moved southwest from Agua Tibia, which straddles
Riverside and San Diego counties, from the
Temecula Valley into Fallbrook, where it dumped 0.83" of rain in less than
an hour. South Temecula received 0.18"; Central Temecula received 0.67".

The lightning spectacle was visible from all over southwest
Riverside County and north San Diego County, as well as parts of Orange
County. Loud thunder could be heard throughout the region.
Lightning strikes were dangerously close to homes and struck power
lines in some areas.

Michael Mojarro of Temecula reported that a lightning
strike took out power for 15 minutes near Calle Medusa in
the northeastern part of town. Dime-sized hail fell there
for a few minutes, he said, and he witnessed lightning
hitting a power pole in the neighborhood, sending sparks across his car.

In Fallbrook, a lightning strike near Green Canyon Road
and Pheasant Lane knocked out power.

Robert Gonsett of Fallbrook called the thunderstorm
"The most spectacular lightning storm I've seen in Fallbrook in
fifteen years." At one point, lightning bolts were seen
every five to ten seconds. Lightning could be seen arcing
from cloud to cloud. "The thunder rattled our bones," he said.

The rain and hail hit Temecula in the 6 o'clock hour and Fallbrook in the 7 o'clock hour.
Thunderstorm activity was also reported north of Hemet.

Rainfall Near Records

Seasonal rainfall in downtown Los Angeles, which has some of the oldest
rainfall records in Southern California, has reached 34.36" Thursday morning, the
third wettest year in recorded history. The wettest year in Los Angeles
was 1883-84, when 38.18" fell. It's likely that record will fall
before this rain season ends June 30th. The second wettest rain season was 1890-91, with 34.84" of rain.

Records for southwest Riverside County communities and
are not available. WeatherCurrents' Temecula site has the longest history,
but only dates back to 2000, and totals at this point have long
eclipsed the past four years. The totals at this point for
2004-05 are probably comparable to the 1992-93 rain season, the year of the Old Town Temecula
flooding.

The record for Fallbrook occurred in 1992-93, the same year as the Old Town Temecula
flooding, and is 36.85", as recorded by
George F. Emerich.

Seasonal Rainfall

Community

Rainfall

Murrieta

34.71"

Fallbrook

34.42"

Temecula

29.72"

Hemet

26.72"

Through February 24th, 2005

On Friday morning, seasonal rainfall was
above or approaching 30" for most inland
communities. Murrieta led the way with 34.71". Fallbrook was less
than two and a half two inches short of the all-time record, 36.85",
recorded in 1992-93.